Wildflowers
Wildflowers carpet Craters of the Moon’s seemingly barren lava fields from early May to late September. The most spectacular shows of wildflowers come with periods of precipitation. In late spring, moisture from snowmelt—supplemented now and then by rainfall—sees the blossoming of most of the delicate annual plants.
Many of the park’s flowering plants, having no mechanisms for conserving moisture, simply complete their life cycles before the middle of summer. This is particularly true of those that grow on the porous cinder gardens into which moisture quickly descends beyond reach of most plants’ root systems.
As summer continues and supplies of moisture slowly dwindle, only the most drought-resistant of flowering plants continue to grow and to bloom. With the onset of autumn rains, only the tiny yellow blossoms of the sagebrush and rabbitbrush remain.
Blazing star
Monkeyflower
Desert parsley
Wild onion
Bitterroot
Paintbrush
Scabland penstemon
Arrow-leaved balsamroot
Scorpionweed